Rotary hoe.



W. s. GRAHAM.

ROTARY HOE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22. 1914.

Patented Feb. 16, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ideama.

` WILLIAM Sl GRAHAM, OF CANTON, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO PARLIN & ORENDORFF COMPANY, OF CANTON, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

ROTARY HOE.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb.. I6, 1915.

Application iled J une 22, 1914. Serial No. 846,647.

T0 all 'whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. GRAHAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Canton, in the county of Fulton and State of Illinois, have invented vnew and useful Improvements in Rotary Hoes, of which the following is a specification.

In loosening the ground close to the roots of corn and like plants cultivators having shovel blades have been provided, but in using shovel cultivators for breaking crusty soil, they do not break the soil into fine pieces as required, and the large clo'ds of soil are Voften dragged with the cultivator shovels or blades over the field, which rel sults in the pulling up of the plants by the roots or breakingA the same. To overcome this I have provided the present invention which relates to rotary hoes having rotating blades or `fingersl which -dig into and loosen the soil, breaking the crust into line pieces Iwhereby no clods or other .foreign matter can be carried with the-blades over the field, and at the same time leaving the ground well aired close to the roots of the plants.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide means whereby the hoe may be. -raised and lowered relative to the ground v so as to regulate the depth at which the hoe blades or fingers work to suitthe requirements, and `also being adapted toA raise the hoesblades clear above the ground for transportation.

It is another object of the invention to improve devices of this type in sundry' details hereinafter pointed` out.

The preferred means by which I accomplish my objects are illustratedin the accompanying drawings and are hereinafter specifically described.

In the drawings; Figure 1 is a plan view embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation showing a part thereof in section.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation having'a portion of one support Wheel broken away. F ig. 4

is a detail section showing one of the sup-l porting axes,andl Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken in the line 5-'5 ofrFig. 1 in the d1- rection of the arrows as shown.

a heavy crust, yand which also prevents the' I operator from coming in contact with the hoe points, as will be hereinafter more fully described. Mounted upon ythe platform at its medial portion are a pair of inverted U-shaped bars 6 to which is secured by means of bolts 7 the inner end of the draft tongue 8, the latter carrying an evener 9 secured to the under side thereof, as shown in Fig. 3. A bar 10 connects the bars 6 and has adjustably mounted thereon the drivers seat 1l. A truss rod 12 connects the ends of the rear bar 2 for bracing the frame.

Suspended from and connected to the transverse bars 3 by means of bolts 13 are bearing blocks 14.- having j'ournaled therein 'two parallel shafts 15. These bearing blocks are also supplied with hard grease cups 16 from which oil may be supplied to the shafts. Carried by the shafts are the hoe Wheels 17 held in spaced relation by means of the sleeves 18. The hoe wheels comprise a plurality of radially projecting curved fingers being so designed as to ef- The device shown is to be used whgn cultivating three rows of plants when the rows of plants are close together, but when it is i 2ov desir'ed the middle section B may be removed when the rows of corn or other plants are spaced apart and it is not desired to cultivate the ground between the rows. The hoe wheels are keyed upon the squared shafts so that all the wheels will turn in unison,

when passing over the ground thereby preventing one or more of the wheels from dragging should the same strike anA obstruction. j

The carrying wheels are mounted on each side of the device and are adapted to be adjusted whereby the hoe wheels may be raised and lowered so as to regulate the depth at which the hoe ingers Work hoe wheels may also be raised to clear the ground in transporting the device to and from the field. 4 Projecting through each of the end blocks 14 and the bars 3 are bolts 21 for fastening a bearing casting 22 to each side of the machine. Each of these bearings has journaled therein, one end 23 of a crank axle and mounted upon theopposite ends 24 of the crank axles are the carrying wheels 20.-The

y medial portions 25 of the axles are bent at `zio right angles to the ends thereofso by oscillating the axlesfthe Wheels may be raised and lowered. A lcasting 26 is mounted upon the end 23 of each axle and each casting has an arm 27 secured to the medial portions of the axles by means of U shaped bolts 28. The sections 23 are retained within the respective bearings 22 by means of the castings 26 and the Cotter pins 29.

'lhe numeral 3() indicates a sectional dustv proof casting for connecting the carrying Wheels 20 to their respective axles.

The means for oscillating the crank axles comprises operating levers 31 each connected as ,at 32 to'arms 33 formed integrally with vthe castings 26.

A'seginental rack 34 is carried by the outer face of each end block 13, which racks are adapted to be engaged by spring actuated detents 35 carried by the levers 31 for retaining the levers in the desired adjusted position. A hand grip 36 is pivoted upon each lever 'and connected to the detents 35 whereby the operator may easily and readily operate the same.

By having the wheels mounted separately upon two axles they may be operated independently of each other whereby either end of the machine may be raised or lowered to meet the requirements of the unevenness of the ground.

From Fig. -3 vit will be noted that the carryingm'heels'QO are a little to the rear of theI center line of the machine, thereby throwing the weight of the machine forward, but when the operator is in his seat upon the machine, his weight will counter- The,

balance the Weight of the machine and thereby relieve the same from the neck of the draft animals. V-

To obtain effective results the front and rear gangs of the hoe shovels should work on the same level, and to accomplish this the weight of the operator counterbalances the machine and the evener 10 is supported on the under side of the tongue whereby the pull of the draft animals will also help relieve the Weight from the necks of the same. By having a single operating wheel on each side of the machine, the machine may be easily raised and lowered, and by counterbalancing the weight of the machine, the front and rear gangs of the hoe wheels will travel over the ground at about the same level.

l claim:

1. In a rotary hoe the combination with a frame, U-shaped bars depending therefrom, bearing blocks carried by the U- shaped bars, a front and rear gang of hoe wheels supported. by the bearing block, a

bearing box depending from each end bearing block and arranged at one side of the center thereof, a crank axle journaled in each bearing box, supporting wheel carried by the crank axles,y means for oscillating the crank axles whereby the frame will be raised and lowered, an operators seat mounted uponthe frame rearwardly of the axes of the'wheels whereby the Weight of theoperator will counterbalance the frame so that upon the raising and lowering of the frame, each gang of hoe wheels will remain at the same level.

2. In a rotary hoe the combination with a frame, U-shaped Jbars depending therefrom, a bearing block carried by each bar, a pair ofhparallel axles journaled within said'bearing blocks, a bearing box suspended from each end bearing block at one side of the transverse center line of the frame, a crank axle journaled within each bearing box, a supporting wheel carried by each crank axle,'means for oscillating the crank axles whereby the frame may be raised or lowered, a raft tongue connected to the medial portion of the frame and extending from one end thereof, an operators seat mounted upon the frame at the opposite end thereof, whereby the weight of the operator will counterbalance the frame to relieve the draft tongue of any weight from the frame and permit thehoe wheels to travel at the same level whenvtthe frame is in its raised or lowered position.

3. The combination with a rotary hoe ably secured to'the frame; en operetors seat mounted upon the frame at therear thereof,

en evener secured tothe underside` of the draft; tongue yadjacend; the rear end thereof whereby the weight carried by the operators seat and the pull upon the evener will counterbalance the frame and the'hoe wheels will workat the same level.

Witnesses:

CHARLES W. GRAY, Gnece OBRIEN.

w s. GRA 

